Literary Terms and Criticism

Palgrave Study Guides: Literature

by John Peck, Martin Coyle

Literary Terms and Criticism has long been established as the best-selling guide to the study of English literature. It offers a comprehensive introduction to English poetry, drama and the novel, complete with practical advice and tips on how to analyse texts and how to make sense of the critical terms we employ in discussing literature. It is also the clearest and most useful of all guides to modern critical theory. There are entries on all aspects of critical thinking, ranging from traditional criticism through to postcolonialism and cultural materialism. This new edition also contains updated material, a revised further reading list and additional discussion of critical terms and approaches. In so doing, it remains the indispensable guide - providing you with the vital starting-point for whatever text you are studying, and giving you ideas you can draw on throughout your course.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Academic

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1984

Reviews

[Sara Abed]

A very good read for beginners of studying literature... All is very simplified and concise and the language is quite easy...

[L]

Literary terms and criticism

This book is designed for everyone who studies literature, either for examination or pleasure. This book helps guide one on how to respond and understand the text, so that you can develop your own critical voice. This book explores how to read, understand and analyse literary texts, making your own analysis and interpretation. This enables one to become a more confident reader.

The book is divided into six sections, on; a survey of literature, poetry, drama, the novel, critical concepts, critical positions and perspectives. It also includes subject and author index’s. It also covers a brief survey of English, American and Postcolonial literature, that’s defined as a generic or genre context and a historical context. The genre’s that are explored are poetry, drama and the novel. Including epic, tragedy, lyric, comedy and satire.

This book also explores the economic and social fabric of societal change and how that impacted upon literature. One looks at the 18th century for instance, and how harmony and balance can be created in society. Such as for instance, the romantics, who found harmony in life (a pattern) through social order.
In this book it also looks at how literature constructs identities and mythologies, to form experiences. Then, it delves into the narrative from; the epic, to the ballad and romance. Lyric as well, from; the sonnet, to the ode and the elegy. In a world removed from ordinary experience and ordinary language, poetry is used to ‘broaden our minds’.

This essential, informative book is ideal for creative writing and English literature students and one that I would highly recommend.

[Ali Kamel]

It is ridiculously simplified. I highly recommend it to anyone wants to grasp the basics of literature.

[PRJ Greenwell]

Useful as a primer but it's opinionated - Graham Greene and W.H. Auden are nothing special according to this book, and it perpetuates - perhaps unintentionally - the trope that all good literature in English was written in the 19th century. Of course genre fiction only gets a paragraph or two of mention, science fiction, fantasy and Gothic. Apart from all this, it explains its topics tersely but adequately.

[Miloman]

John Peck is fantastic and does what he advertises in this guidebook--explains literary concepts and terms easily and clearly. He also addressed many things I often questioned and felt confused about, which I appreciated a lot. There were some things I wish were expanded on or discussed, like genre fiction as someone said but I will still maintain giving this academic text 5/5 because it did exactly what it said it would and greatly expanded my superficial knowledge on key literary concepts and terms.

[Phansi]

great